The sex-mad geisha who sliced off her lover’s genitals, strangled him with a kimono belt, and carved her name into his arm, is perhaps Japan’s most famous criminal of the 20th century.

Today, Abe’s story is practically a part of Japanese folklore. So how did this brutal killer become an unlikely celebrity, feminist icon and star of stage and screen? What exactly is a geisha? And what does her story tell us about the mystifying world of Japanese sexuality today?

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